UFC announces first-ever event in China

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® organization continued its foray into new territories today, officially announcing its first-ever event in the People’s Republic of China, and its second event in Asia this year. Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China located off the mainland’s southern coast, will host a UFC event on November 10, 2012.

The event will take place at The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel’s CotaiArena, a 15,000-seat venue which has established itself as the top live-entertainment location in southern China. The fight will be broadcast by FUEL TV in the US market, and by numerous UFC television partners around Asia and globally.

“Breaking into a market with a population of over 1.3 billion is both a testament to the growth of our sport and a long-term challenge we are excited to undertake,” said Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC Chairman and CEO. “This is just the first of many world-class fights we plan to hold over the coming years in China, one of the birthplaces of martial arts. The world-class CotaiArena in Macau is an ideal place to start this journey.”

“Sands China is thrilled to introduce UFC to Macau forthe first time,” said Edward Tracy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sands China Ltd. “Our continuing mission is to bring the best entertainment events to the region, cementing Macau’s place as Asia’s entertainment hub. It’s our pleasure to be working with the UFC organization to bring such a major sporting event for the enjoyment of Macau’s visitors andlocals alike.”

Over the last several years, the UFC has built its broadcast reach in China to more than 450 million television viewers via a dozen provincial broadcasters, and more than 500 million unique viewers through the nation’s leading internet portals. UFC fighter Zhang Tiequan leads a growing group of professional MMA fighters in mainland China, several of whom are candidates to make their UFC debut in Macau.

“This event is a major step in the development of the UFC brand in this region of the world, and China in particular,” noted Mark Fischer, UFC Managing Director of Asia. “We are delighted by this opportunity to build on the media growth and attention we have received and to finally bring a live event in prime time to the millions of fans in this area, and especially to those lucky enough to come and experience all the excitement of the UFC in person.”

Ticket information and fight card announcements to be made at a later date. For more information or current fight news, visit http://ufc.cn/.

Photo credit: The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel

About the Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Universally recognized for its action-packed, can’t-miss events that have sold out some of the biggest arenas and stadiums across the globe, the UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto and Beijing, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world. In 2011, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group. The agreement includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network annually, with additional fight cards and thousands of hours of programming broadcast on FOX properties FX and FUEL TV. This also includes the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®, which now airs on FX.

In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in over 149 countries and territories, tonearly one billion homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter. UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with over twomillion followers on Twitter. Ancillary UFC businesses include best-sellingDVDs, an internationally distributed magazine, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, the best-selling UFC Undisputed® video game franchise distributed by THQ and a new franchise in development with EA, UFC GYM®, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo® festivals, branded apparel and trading cards.

About the CotaiArena™
Since opening in 2007, the 15,000-seat CotaiArena has established itself as the top live-entertainmentvenue in southern China. It is the only venue in Asia ranked in Pollstar’s Top 100 Worldwide Arena Venues based on ticket sales. It hosts the world’s and the region’s biggest names in music, sports and awards shows. Superstars frequently choose the venue as the starting point of their Asian tours.
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Coming up next: UFC® 148: SILVA vs. SONNEN 2 will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition. For more on the UFC or UFC 148 visit www.UFC.com